


Slow Boil

by shamebucket



Category: No Thank You!!! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Cooking, Gen, Introspection, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22330174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shamebucket/pseuds/shamebucket
Summary: Ryu teaches Yufumi how to cook a simple meal.
Relationships: Kurosawa Ryu & Saitou Yufumi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	Slow Boil

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for kazoku, a BLVN zine about familial relationships. Check it out [here!](https://issuu.com/hanazonocollab/docs/kazoku__digital_edition_)

“Onii-chan, is it really okay?”   
  
Ryu gently pats Yufumi on the head. “Of course. I love that you live with me, and it’s important that I teach you what I can while you’re here.” She trembles uncertainly at his words, even though they have lived together for two years, so he corrects himself. “Someday, you may want to move away from me to pursue your passions or to get married, and helping you learn how to cook for yourself will help you live a successful adult life. You always have a place here, as long as you’d like to live with me..”   
  
She relaxes minutely, although the darkness in her eyes remains. “Okay.” Very carefully, she pushes the stool over to the kitchen counter and climbs up. “What are we making, Onii-chan?”  
  
“Oyakodon.” The ingredients have been laid out for her. She eyes them, looking a little overwhelmed. “I’m helping you. You aren’t doing this alone.”   
  
“Okay.” She looks up at her foster parent. “What do I do first?”   
  
“First,” Ryu says, “we mix the wet ingredients together as well as the sugar.” Yufumi nods, her small hands grasping at the small bowls in front of her. She pours them all into a measuring cup and mixes them together with a spoon. “Keep going until the sugar has dissolved.”   
  
Her movements are measured, delicate and careful. She looks up at Ryu, clearly not confident. “Is this enough?”   
  
“Just a little more.” He guides her hands and helps her stir a little more vigorously. It warms Ryu’s heart when he feels her relax as he touches her. “There we are. There is no sugar left at the bottom, see?”   
  
“I see.”   
  
“Now, I’m going to have you slice the onion.” He slides over a kitchen knife to her. “I know it’s big, but it’s safer to use than a small knife. Do you feel comfortable using this?”   
  
She glances at the knife and her eyes raise to his. “Could you help me?”   
  
“Of course.” He takes her hands and positions them. Her left holds the onion steady as he guides her right to slice off the top. “Like this. Keeping the base intact allows you to slice without getting the juices everywhere. You’ll cry less.”   
  
“Mm. You know a lot about cooking.” With his help, she slices the root of the onion in half.   
  
“It’s healthier to cook for yourself. Cheaper than buying fast food, too. Here, like this,” he says, demonstrating a few slices. “Use the weight of the knife to slice down. You don’t need to press very hard.”   
  
Yufumi copies him perfectly, even if she’s slower than him. He releases her hands, allowing her to chop on her own. Ryu’s mind wanders for a moment. He had learned how to do this when he was on his own, without any guardians. On his own… no. Before he was on his own, since he had someone else with him for a long time. Everything he did was for her. And now…   
  
Yufumi is nothing like Ai. The only thing they have in common is how much they look up to him and rely on him. A few people have commented that they look similar, but it’s nothing like the resemblance that he and Ai shared.   
  
In some ways, Ryu wonders if Yufumi is more like him than Ai was. She’s precocious and wants to help as much as she can around the house, never leaving anything in disarray. She even tidies the small messes that Ryu accidentally overlooks, making sure to brush stray grains of rice off the counter into her hand when he prepares her breakfast after a long shift at sótano. He frowns. Maybe he’s getting too old for this, even if he’s barely in his thirties. Staying up all night used to do little to stop him from being able to function. It’s not right that a little girl has to clean up for him. That said, what does he have to offer in an office setting? This line of business seems the wisest for him to stay in.   
  
“Does this look right?” Yufumi puts down her knife and pokes at the long, thin slices of onion.   
  
“Beautiful. You can do the same with this mitsuba.” A little more confident, she chops the green vegetable into fine pieces within a minute. Ryu is impressed. “Now, let me show you a trick on how to cut the chicken.” He grasps onto her hands and a boneless chicken thigh. “Like this, at an angle. It will cook faster this way.”   
  
“Mmm… okay.” She slices through the soft flesh a little too hard. “Ow!” The knife falls to the floor and she clutches her hand.   
  
“Let me see.” Sniffling, Yufumi presents her hand to her foster parent, showing him her bleeding fingers. The cut isn’t deep enough that it requires a trip to the hospital, but it certainly needs to get bandaged. “It’s all right. You’ll be okay. I’m not mad at you.” Carefully, he lifts her by her waist off the stool and onto the floor. “Let me take care of that cut.” Ryu grabs the first aid kit from underneath the kitchen counter and gets down on his knee to be at Yufumi’s level.   
  
Practiced hands make swift work of cleaning her wound. The skin has split neatly across her fingertips and should heal without the need for stitches. Taking great care, he dabs antiseptic on her fingers and wraps everything in multicolored bandages. Her hand looks like a pastel rainbow. “It’s… pretty,” she says, admiring her fingers.   
  
“Just like you.” Her laugh is feeble, but there, as he pats her on the head. “Set the table, please. I’ll finish supper for us.”   
  
The smile she gives him is familiar, true and warm and bright. For a moment, it reminds him of something long-dead. “Thank you very much, onii-chan.” But it’s gone now. Yufumi is here, and he loves her, and usually he doesn’t think as much about what came before. This is what he has.   
  
A slow boil rises from his stomach up to his chest as he clicks the burner on, letting the chicken simmer in the seasonings Yufumi prepared for him. 


End file.
